Bloc

Bloc

About

About

Bloc is an online coding bootcamp that incorporates 1-on-1 mentorship to prepare each student for a career as a professional software engineer or UX/UI designer. Bloc's apprenticeship approach is tailored specifically to each student's learning needs. In the Web Developer Bootcamp, the curriculum is centered around frontend JavaScript and students can choose whether to learn Ruby on Rails or server-side JavaScript with Node. Bloc’s project-based curriculum is written by expert curriculum developers and vetted by their advisory board comprised of hiring managers. Students work with mentors 1-on-1 to clarify concepts, pair program, and build a portfolio of sites that will demonstrate job readiness as a professional software engineer. Not everyone can quit their job or move to a new city for a bootcamp, so Bloc has designed a comprehensive bootcamp with this in mind. Students can enroll full-time, or complete the program at a part-time pace. Bloc also offers 80 hours per week of real-time access to an experienced developer to answer any questions students may have.

No prior development experience is required to enroll in Bloc, but a strong desire to learn and take on challenges will be important in each student's success! Bloc has a 100% acceptance rate, but is looking for students who are driven, hard-working, and ready to learn.

Career readiness is important to Bloc- their flagship Track programs include job preparation material and career prep workshops. Mentors will help students put together a portfolio and prepare technical interview questions. When ready, students work with the Career Support team to navigate the job search process with an individualized game plan and exposure to Bloc's Employer Network.

Courses

Courses

Design Track

Bloc's Designer Track is an online, self-paced training program that enables career-minded adults with busy lives to go from beginner to job-ready designers.
Designer Track offers the only holistic learning regimen of skilled mentors, industry-vetted curriculum, gated assessments, and a community of fellow designers to support you.
Over 90% of senior designers say designers need to know how to code in today's market. You'll study the Design Process in depth, including UX research, visual design, AND frontend development. You'll also build real-life projects that will make up your portfolio. These skills combined with the Career Services curriculum will ensure that you are the most competitive candidate on the market.
After you complete the program, you'll work with our world-class Career Services team to ensure you find a job. The Designer Track is backed by our Tuition Reimbursement Guarantee, which means that if you don't find a job within 180 days of finishing the program, we will reimburse your tuition in full.

Web Developer Track

Bloc's Web Developer Track is an online, self-paced training program that enables career-minded adults with busy lives to go from beginner to job-ready developers.
Web Developer Track offers a holistic learning regimen of skilled mentors, industry-vetted curriculum, gated assessments, and a community of fellow developers, with a proven 97% employment rate.
You'll learn by completing real-life projects and completing self-guided checkpoints. For each checkpoint you finish, you'll receive feedback from a professional developer. You'll start off by learning frontend programming with HTML/CSS and React.js. You'll then focus on computer science fundamentals, where you'll learn about data structures and algorithms. You'll then move on to your server-side language, choosing either Ruby on Rails or JavaScript with Node.js. Finally, you'll pass a Job Ready Gate, which signifies to Bloc, hiring managers, and yourself that you are ready to get your first job as a developer. From day 1, you'll learn the fundamentals of how to frame and execute your job search with our Career Services curriculum checkpoints.
You'll work with our world-class Career Services team to ensure you find a job. The Web Developer Track is backed by our Tuition Reimbursement Guarantee, which means that if you don't find a job within 180 days of completing the program, we will reimburse your tuition in full.
To learn more, visit https://www.bloc.io/web-developer-track.

Shared Review

I have reaserched a lot of bootcamps before I joined bloc, and bloc was the only one that fitted what I was looking for, I didn't have to relocate or quit my job, after I started the cource it was everything stated in the ads, the platform which is designed in a way that students can get help from mentors and coaches on slack is really helpful.

I completed Bloc's UX/UI Design Course. I took roughly 9 months while still working fulltime, and had weekly calls with a mentor. I feel my mentor was more a guide to keep me on track and not feel alone while doing this online program than someone who helped me level up with my skillset, but you don't get to have everything in life and what I did get from the program I am beyond satisfied with.

My four star rating is because I struggled with learning HTML, CSS, github stuff alone on my couch, and found the online bootcamp with once per week 30 min calls with a mentor format impossible for my learning style when you don't have the words to be able to describe the problems you're having to get help.

Through what I learned at Bloc, networking with Bloc grads, networking like it was my job in my hometown going to 2-3 meetups most weeks for 5 months, and capitalizing on my soft skills, professional strengths, and experience in digital marketing and communications from previous jobs, I now work as a UX Architect at my dream company and couldn't like what I do or the organization I spend all my time at more. My success is due to leveraging past work experiences, committing myself to learning everything I could with Bloc, networking hustle, and good timing.

I found the people at Bloc I interacted with genuinely interested in answering my questions, helping me, and in my being successful after the program. Like most things in life, what you get out of it depends on what you put into it. I was able to change careers and am happy where I am at. For that I am thankful I invested in Bloc and in myself.

When I first decided to enroll at Bloc in 2015, there were a few things that convinced me to do so. Some of them were:

Flexibility (online and could chose a slower pace)

Course content

Price

However, sometime during the course, I felt a bit of bait-and-switch. When I enrolled, my course was called Full Stack Web Development Apprenticeship, and I was led to believe that I would learn both backend and frontend. And that by the end of the course I would receive assistance with my job search. I think at some point, there was some rebranding done at Bloc, and they changed things around. My course became the Rails Web Development course, now showcased as one of those courses you might take to learn new skills, not necessarily to switch careers.

But let's leave that aside for now. The curriculum was actually pretty wide, and I genuinely learned a lot about Rails. There was quite a bit of handholding at first, but I genuinely felt that I learned by doing. My first mentor was fantastic, but at some point he was moved to a different position, and I had to change my mentor. My second one was still helpful, but lacked a bit in mentorship.

Once the course was done, I started applying to multiple jobs and apprenticeships. I quickly realized that I was very unprepared for the real world, and then I realized there was no way I could land a job after just taking this course. I reached out to Bloc, and I have to give credit where credit is due. Prachi from Bloc called me and she listened to what I had to say. They extended my course a few weeks to meet a few more times with my mentor. Courtland also did a couple mock interviews with me, and I think he realized that I had many weak spots. He also sent me a book for free to help me out with algorithms.

At the end, I landed the best job I ever had, but it is not in web dev and it has nothing to do with taking Bloc's course. All I can say that the stars sort of lined up for me, and all in all, I'm glad I took a year off to study because it led me to where I'm at now.

Response From: Alex of Bloc

Title: Product Marketing Manager

Monday, Jul 10 2017

Hi Liz,

I'm Alex, Bloc's product marketing manager. Thank you so much for your review! We rely on data, both quantitative and qualitative, to improve the student experience, so whenever we receive feedback like this we are sure to discuss it as a team and incorporate it into the following program improvements.

While I'm disappointed to read you didn't have the best experience at Bloc, I can certainly understand why. Back in 2015, we did not have all the information we do today around how to best update programs to minimize disruption to our students. However, since then, we've updated our release process to ensure any new improvements we make to the curriculum are made within the same program so all students benefit from it (as opposed to launching a new program, as you experienced).

Finally, I'm so glad to know you're in a job you love. If you are still interested in pursuing a career in development, our Career Services team is always happy to help alumni in their search. Please feel free to reach out to our team at career-services [at] bloc [dot] io anytime for career help or to give us any additional feedback you have!

After months of researching coding bootcamps, I chose Bloc for the 1 to 1 mentorship, commitment to job placement, and because it’s remote (I knew I would move to a new city during the program). I'm 3 weeks away from completing the Part Time Web Developer Track and I can say that I'm very happy with my experience at Bloc.

Mentors: I meet with a mentor twice a week for about 30 minutes. I have had 3 different mentors and each one has taught me a lot about programming and what it's like to work as a developer. Because of the curriculum and my mentors, I have learned more in 6 months than I have over the last 4 years of trying to learn on my own.

Curriculum: Bloc's curriculum starts by holding your hand and showing you how to make a working thing from thin air. It's very exciting to publish the first project. As time goes one, the curriculum gives you some guidance but it's up to you to solve the problems. I was very impressed with the curriculum.

Job Placement: Because of Bloc’s tuition reimbursement guarantee, I knew they had a vested interested in me getting a role as a developer. I just started applying for jobs so I can’t comment on receiving a developer role but, because of the career preparation sprinkled throughout the entire program, I feel prepared to apply and interview. More importantly, I feel confident that I can actively and passively look for developer jobs throughout my career.

Time Commitment: Bloc suggests to dedicate 12-20 hrs per week. In order to dedicate 20 hours a week and keep my current job, I cut down on many social engagements. I was okay doing this but it is something to think about before enrolling in any bootcamp.

Portfolio and Projects: By the end of the program, I’ll have a rockin’ personal website and 9 projects to show off my skills in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, AngularJS, Firebase, a couple other minor libraries, Ruby on Rails, and a whole lot of Ruby gems.

Remote Bootcamp: Working with a remote mentor was great. We shared screens, communicated face to face, and took control of each other’s mouse when necessary. Bloc does encourage you to attend meetups and conferences in person to network and learn from others in person.

Because of Bloc, I have learned more about programming than any other method I tried on my own and I feel prepared to search for developer roles. I recommend enrolling in Bloc’s Part Time Developer Track to anyone who wants to learn how to program and work as a developer in a relatively short period.

I had been trying to learn JavaScript since 2009 before I enrolled in Bloc in 2015. I attemped to learn from books, blogs, both written and video tutorials, and pairing with professional engineers, but all lead to a steep learning curve with no measurable results. I had learned Rails during 10 weeks of project-based pairing in 2013, so I was looking for a similar experience to learn JavaScript (and Angular.js), and found exactly what I needed with Bloc. The program exceeded my expectations, and I still use all the skills I learned during that program in my job today as a product designer and front-end developer. I don't code full-time, but I regularly review PRs to our various code bases, can understand technical tradeoffs during implementation discussions, can debug code on my own, and can even branch features and make my own small contributions for UI updates. Upon finishing Bloc, I even had a full-time job offer as an Angular developer, although in the end I decided I didn't want to switch from Design to Engineering. That said, I would have never had the choice if it wasn't for Bloc.

I have just completed the part-time Web Developer track at Bloc. Overall I really love the curriculum. It has moved at the perfect pace for me. Not too fast and not too slow. It has covered a great deal of AngularJS and Ruby on Rails. Mentors are friendly, knowledgeable, and resourceful. I worked with Kevin Lee on my front-end curriculum. And I worked with Alex Spencer for my back-end projects. Highly recommend both of them.

My company had a need for a custom application that would tie directly to our existing Accounting software. We researched using outside developers and determined that it would be less expensive and faster for me to learn the technologies required than it would be to teach the outside developers the intricacies of our industry. Being able to work with my Mentor to develop my application as part of my capstone requirement for my course meant that I had a seasoned developer helping me develop the app my company required while I learned the languages cutting down the overall time of development even more. All in all I was able to develop a working application and learn new skills with this course. Couldn't have worked out better for me.

I also took the Android developers course and used this course to develop a mobile version of our custom application.

I started the Designer Track Apprenticeship back in January. It has been an incredible journey so far and I would recommend anyone interested in an online design program give Bloc serious consideration. Choosing to join a bootcamp program should not be taken lightly and I encourage anyone who is thinking about doing so really weigh their options carefully to make sure A) This is something they are serious about pursuing and B) Whatever option they pick best suits their needs. It may be Bloc, it may be something else do right by yourself all I can say is that I have had a fantastic experience thus far.

To try and keep this brief by highlighting two of key examples as to why I am so impressed with Bloc:

1. Mentorship/Support-My mentor is NOT 24/7. BUT my mentor has been invaluable in walking me through every stage of the program and when I couldn't reach him for an immediate answer on something I've been able get questions answered and feedback via the program director, other mentors and fellow students in the Slack/FB Community.
When I was getting crushed by the demands of the 9-month pace (They say it is 25-hours a week of work but it was closer to 40 for me) and my current job or when I had a medical issue that I thought was going to force me to drop out the Student Success team went above and beyond in accommodating me. Bloc is a thriving and supportive community beyond being a program.
Heck, when I was considering between Bloc and another program I reached out to a Bloc alum on my own and she was so giving and so positive and candid about her experience that it really sealed the deal.

2. Bloc is a Work in Progress- The curriculum has changed noticeably since I started back in January. There've been additions, and some major changes in the order of sections. There is one section that is being updated just because the tools changed a month or so ago. So things are constantly shifting and I appreciate that to no end. The team at Bloc is constantly assessing feedback from current students and alums and making changes and adjustments. So no, the program is not perfect. The curriculum is not perfect. But it is constantly evolving and improving and we are a major part in that.

TL;DR - Do your due diligence on if the field is right for you. Spend the time researching all your options and find the right one for you. If you decide on Bloc, know it is challenging but know that you are supported by a great staff and community who will go out of their way for you.

Bloc has a great course for web development, and i have really learned alot since joining the program. I went in already knowing c++ which made the course even easier to learn, but i think their teaching method is great. They have you do projects while teaching you the materal, so that you know how to implement and try out the information taught which makes it stick to my brain. They also provide many refrence material for eveything new they teach so that i can look up and learn more about what is being taught if i choose to have a better understanding on the material. Bloc also provides a mentor to help with any problems and qustions needing answers. All in all, i have no problems at Bloc, and staying on track isnt all that difficult. I can't wait for more to come.

I am in my second month of the part time Software Developer Track program (20-25 hrs/week).

At this pace, I meet with a mentor twice a week for about 1/2 hour via Screenhero (an app where you can make phone calls and also share your screen with the person you are connected with).

So far I am very happy with the Bloc Curriculum. They split up the program into Modules. Throughout each module there are quizzes to test your knowledge, and at the end of each module you have to pass an assessment (which is like a mock interview via google video chat) to make sure you have a good enough understanding of the content to move onto the next module.

The first module is basically online tutorials to learn the very basic concepts of HTML, CSS, Javascript, Git, and GitHub (great for someone like me who had close to zero experience with coding!) It is understandable why they would have you go through these tutorials on your own to learn the very basics. You still meet with your mentor during this time, take quizzes, and take the assessment at the end.

I have a great mentor that is consistent and helpful. The mentor piece of Bloc's curriculum is a huge part of why I feel like I am learning so well. If I am stuck, he helps me by guiding me with questions to help me solve a problem, and doesn't just give me the answer.

Your mentor has a good understanding of Bloc's curriculum, how it all works, etc. So they are a great help to getting everything set up, and beyond that, knowing how you are doing. They should have a good idea of your strengths and weaknesses and get you prepared for your assessments so you can feel confident going into them.

Overall I am very happy with Bloc! It is a big time commitment, so make sure you actually have the time and motivation to work on it for the time you need to, sometimes more.

I started the Designer track pretty recently. I already feel like I have acquired more useful skills in these past few months than I did throughout my whole experience in college. My mentor is really helpful and motivating. The staff is very responsive and friendly. Highly recommended for creative types who want to get into the tech industry without having to do back-end work.

My previous full-time job was completely unrelated to programming. I had a few hobbies that surrounded computers (gaming, computer building) and I had spent some previous time with self study using free online resources and taking a couple community college CS courses. I had tried teaching myself C++ as a young teen and quickly realized how difficult that was, thus abandoning my early CS career. My current job was very stressful with long hours and no appreciation and little to show for it. So I can to the conclusion something had to be done and decided to look back at something that had interested me enough to attempt self learning with C++.

The Course:
I spent 12 months in the Full Stack Web Developer course. The material was broad and deep. Their curriculum spans a huge range of topics and they push you in their projects to dig deeper. They help you develop a foundation and ensure you cover the basics, but very soon you will move past that as you attempt to put together real projects. It is in those projects where most of the learning takes place. Problem solving, debugging, and just trying stuff out. These projects were great in that they were advanced enough to showcase to potential employers and to push you to learn new things, but not so advanced that it was too challenging to complete in the necessary time frame. Most of the resources were developed in house and would only sometimes refer to outside resources for their course content.

To really excel in this course, you must have great discipline and self motivation. It is an online bootcamp with only occasional meetings with a mentor to push you along. You must come with the desire to move forward and persevere or you will not make it a success. I felt that I was pretty close to where I needed to be to land a job after completion. I only required a little bit longer in the job prep area to hone my interview skills and touch up on topics I was lacking.

Mentors:
The course was broken into two sections, front end and back end. I had a different mentor for each section. For the back end section I had a ruby expert that had spent a large portion of his career in ruby and was very proficient. When it came to being a mentor however, I felt that I was spending too much money for the valuing I was receiving. He did not come to meetings with anything prepared and relied on me asking questions. This was not a good thing as I did not know what I did not know and was relying on him to help guide me along, which is one of the biggest advantages of having a mentor. He would also be unable to answer some questions where I wanted to do something in Rails that was, I guess, uncommon. I felt that it was a little weird for him to not have any idea about SQL for example. I did end up complaining about him after that section finished and Bloc offered me attention time in the course as a form of compensation. This was not sufficient but it was at least something.

For the second portion of the course, front end, I was matched with a more design oriented mentor. She was very much the opposite of my first mentor and probably the best mentor I’ve had. She came to all meetings with her own agenda before getting to any questions I had. I learned a great deal from her and she was always available to assist with questions or general advice. She was much younger and less experienced than my previous mentors, but she seemed to care more and be more in touch with the general industry. Her advice was much more meaningful in my eventual job search and employment than my previous mentors. She was also very involved, or at least had the knowledge, of how Bloc was structured and was able to keep me in tuned to the course and how the projects were designed to be approached. This helped ensure I was on topic and learning the things I should to make myself the most employable I could. Having the right mentor for you is key for these types of programs.

Job assistance:
Bloc heavily advertises their career assistance before you join, however, overall I felt this to be lacking at the time of taking the course. I will say that they were in the process of changing a few things as I finished so I did not get the full benefit, though the items that were advertised at the beginning were still lacking. My assistance amounted to a couple technical mock interviews. While super helpful, I did not receive much more than this. I was anticipating a portfolio review, Linkedin review, other online presence reviews, and other tangible guidance. They did have written course guidance on the steps to prepping yourself for the job hunt, but that was all solo work with no overview from a trained professional as was advertised. This was a huge disappointment. Also, there was no follow up after I finished my mentor sessions. They did not check on me, offer me any help, or even respond with the promised T-shirt after I completed their exit survey. It was almost like, ‘OK, you’re done, c-ya’. This was absolutely terrible customer service as this is now the last thing I remember from them.

Overall:
This course was decent. It is very expensive and the content is pretty good. I would say that if you get a great mentor and connect with them, then it could be worth the cost, however, if you do not or even just get a mediocre mentor, it is completely not worth it. I would recommend taking freecodecamp and if you feel you need a mentor, there is a website that offer paid time with a professional where you can get that mentor-ship help, but only as you need it and save a huge amount of money. As described above, my lasting impressions of Bloc are sub-par in consideration of the cost and promises, with the except of my second mentor.

I am now a couple of months in to my Part-Time Web Developer Track and it is incredible how much I have already learned. The way the course is structured makes it very easy to learn the basics and then implement what you have learnt as you move through each section. As you progress they take what you have already learnt and expand that knowledge with great tutorials and coding examples. The mentors I have been allocated have been fantastic and such a great help when you inevitably find yourself struggling with some of the checkpoints. They have always been able to guide me in the right direction and give great further explanation of any topics I am having issues with.

Overall I am very pleased with the progress I have made and am looking forward to learning so much more as the course continues. I highly recommend you considering Bloc if you are thinking of learning any aspects of coding.

I did a lot of research before choosing BLOC, and can say with certainty (3 months in) that I made the right decision. The content is approachable, yet challenging. I’m refreshing my existing knowledge base as a lapsed designer, and I’m learning entirely new concepts and applications. The ability to go at my own pace really works for me, and the course has fit into my work/life balance very well. The curriculum includes a heavy dose of career preparedness work, something I frankly never received as an undergraduate or graduate student, and quite a value unto itself. Meet-ups organized by fellow students have been enabled connections, while mentors and fellow students (not to mention the CTO/Cofounder) are a constant helpful and informative presence on Slack, which functions as the school’s virtual campus.

Bloc has been a fantastic experience so far. I find the content very thorough and challenging with ample, friendly support. The flexibility is fantastic for mybusy lifestyle while I am trying to switch careers.

I have been with Bloc as a UX Design and Development student for a few months now. The coursework is in-depth and pretty easy to follow. My only slightly lame experience was with the student advisors lack of communication, but that was only at the very beginning of the process of starting school. My mentor has been an amazing support system, and a source of real-world knowledge. My meetings with him always provide nuggets of wisdom and extra information that is invaluable to my learning process at that time and for the future. I was nervous about doing an online bootcamp since it means very little contact and feedback from others. But between my mentor, the Slack channel for other students, the Facebook group, and local meetups for Bloc students I have felt like my work can be effectively critiqued and I get plenty of participants for the assigments that require user feedback. The head of the design program even comments on the Slack channel everyday. It's pretty great how involved the school is in your learning process. And becuase I got a scholarship, my program will cost me a fraction of what the other mentor based programs I was looking at would have, which was a huge factor for me. I am really happy I chose Bloc.

I'm about a quarter of the way through my part-time web dev program with Bloc. It's been awesome! I'm a massage therapist with no prior background in coding, so it's definitely been challenging me to use my brain in new ways - but the pacing and flexibility of the program along with the personal support from my mentor has helped me to feel confident in my ability to learn the material at every step along the way. My favorite aspect of the program has got to be the personal mentorship - my mentor is GREAT at helping me to understand difficult concepts and giving me pointers when I get stuck. Bloc does a really good job of presenting the material in a straightforward way, and the pacing of the program feels pretty spot on to me.

The Bloc Software Developer Track so far has done not only what I had expected but more so. It encourages you to do research on your own as well as side learning which helps you in the long run to solve ideas on your own. Not to mention it allows learning within Bloc much more easy because you're used to researching what you don't know.

It has its own methods of teaching as well as outside teaching. It has a great way to start with fundamentals, going to hands-on, and you doing it mostly on your own.

Each checkpoint and assignment you do; allows you to get a review of it. I think this is great because it means they are always looking for ways to improve.

Bloc seems to be able to keep it entertaining because I have yet to get bored, I feel confident in what I am learning so it keeps me hungry to do more.

In addition to the curriculum, you get a mentor. Now, you may not always need the mentor for the coding but your mentor will be an invaluable tool through out your learning journey. My mentor has told me much more about how life will be during your job as well as hiring and even looking for a job. Keeps me confident in what I'm doing and motivated to learn more.

As your doing the checkpoints and assignments, if you happen to get stuck, the mentors will always do their best to reply to you in a timely fashion to get you un-stuck. It usually doesn't take long and you can use that time to either keep on trying different ideas and researching or using that time to learn up from other websites.

In conclusion, in my search for a coding bootcamp (as well as trying some such as coursera), I decided upon Bloc and have not been disappointed. I have done other certificate courses such as for personal training through NASM but have never been so sure of myself as I am now doing Bloc. Great opportunity.

At this point, I have completed the first two modules of the Software Developer Program, which consisted mainly of Front-end material. So far I have been extremely pleased with the content, the program, and especially my mentor. This is not my first experience with front-end material so how the material was delivered to aid in my learning experience was extremely important to me. Before Bloc, I tried to learn on my own, as well as took some basic classes provided from other sites. Unfortunately, I was not satisfied with my progress or the content and felt that I would not be prepared to not only look for a job, but to be successful in the field. Bloc has completely changed that for me in the few months that I have been in the program. I now feel that I am being prepared to be able to successfully find a job and be successful in that job, once I complete the program. If I could have had this experience a few years ago, I believe that I would already by in the profession. However, the Software Developer Program is a newer program that is offered by Bloc, so I am lucky to get that kind of experience that will increase my skills for the job market. Also, I have felt that Bloc actually cares about my progress, that I am not on my own, and provides skilled mentors that also care about my progress. This program is not like others that I have looked into or taken, it is truly an apprenticeship and I completely have the confidence that the program will prepare me to enter the world of software engineering. If you are looking for a program, more than a just bootcamp (that just crams all the information in a short time), then I completely recommend Bloc.

I am about 8 weeks into the Software Engineering Track and I have nothing but good things to say about Bloc. I have a technical background with 5+ yrs experience in System Administration and I have also tried other bootcamp style courses (Udacity, Coursera, Udemy, Safari Learning Paths, etc.).

I can say without hesitation that Bloc blows them out of the water. The curriculum is effective and challenging but also extremely well thought out so as not to overwhelm students. Building on that foundation is a fantastic mentor experience which is what really sets this program apart.

If you are thinking about a career change (or starting a career) in software development, consider Bloc. It is worth every penny!

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Bloc so far. I am about nine weeks in and it has taught me more about Web Development than I knew in my three years of trying to learn it by myself. My mentor has helped me understand abstract concepts that had always eluded me. Their curriculum is done is such a way that keeps you challenged but is always broken down so it’s easy to understand. Bloc is the best decision I have ever made since deciding to learn how to develop.

After a successful career in print production, I decided to completely change my track and become a Full Stack Web Developer. I spent weeks researching different boot camps and made the decision to enrollin BLOC. I'm really happy with my decision, the curriculum is very thorough and makes you work. Like anyone learning something new, I have had some struggles, but my mentor Tessa is amazing and helping me through any of the tough spots. I am halfway through and now working on some really cool projects that will build a great portfolio. I'm confident that when I am finished with the course, and with Bloc's help with career planning and interviewing I'll have an amazing new career. If you're dedicated, and willing to put in the time and effort, you will be successful at Bloc!

I graduated last week. It took me just over 15 months to finish the program. I had an overall good experience with the program and feel it is a good value and useful for accelerating my new career path.

Pros: Student success really listens well and has always responded in a timely fashion with relevant information. The actual content is engaging and well drilled, each time in greater detail and demanding of more refinement. There was no filler content. Every checkpoint I felt was relevant and had a valuable lesson to teach. If I had a question about the content, or became stuck, I was eventually led into the right direction. I feel I can speak confidently on what UX is and I came out of the program feeling energized and optimistic, not beat down or jaded. A handful of the people in the program are absolute gold at instructing and I had gained much valuable insight from them.

Cons: I utilized my mentor rarely. I didn’t need them to get through the program. I had tried out three mentors, each with variable quality. The grading team can have a slow turnaround time. Often, I waited 80 hours to get input. During a few parts of the course, I was able to apply myself elsewhere... but often I would need to sit and wait before I could move forward. Sometimes, the feedback conflicted with other graders visions and advice which could be annoying. Some of the demonstration videos Bloc uses are well edited... but I found many did not have any editing at all and it felt like a slog to get to the relevant information. I didn’t ever feel there was a community of students to bounce ideas off on the slack channel. I think this is a powerful tool that could be refined and be a great asset. The technical coaches were hit or miss. Sometimes I would get exactly what I was looking for. However, other times, I felt I had to explain simple ideas of what I was struggling with and was not given pertinent feedback and had to re-re-re explain the situation. Bloc asks for 3-4 checkpoints a week. I would say this is an unrealistic pace for most weeks. Some of the more involved checkpoints took me two weeks just to finish one.

I would recommend this program to others. If I were to do it again, I would have studied on my own what UX was instead of going in to the course totally fresh. The most important aspect for me was the feeling of optimism at the time of graduation. I feel fresh and ready to step into the UX job market.

This review is for both Thinkful and Bloc, since they are actually the same company now.

I started Thinkful's Data Science program in August 2018 and finished in May 2019. It took me 2 extra months than the scheduled 6 months, but I made it, and finished strongly. Since before enrolling, I knew I wanted a longer type of program, to really allow myself the chance to learn things in depth.

The program was very hard, but also very good. There's some rough edges in the curriculum, in which I'd like some topics to be covered more in depth, but all in all, it's actually great and very complete. Plus, after all that, you really become proficient enough to continue learning by yourself whatever you want. This just kinda helps you take off, mostly, if you've never been into the Python data science world and used all the main libraries.

The jobsearch was hard as well, but I managed to land a paid remote internship in two months, which actually was a great deal. The internship is in a data science capacity, which is great. And it was with a small company, which means a high chance of conversion to full-time. Their careers curriculum was very helpful in preparing myself in general: Resume-building, Linkedin profile, networking, applications, interview-prep. I had about 8 interviews total in that time, most of which came from my own efforts applying on various sites. Some others came through their employer partnerships. This is a key feature of Thinkful and Bloc, which sets them apart. They actually help you get interviews with some of their partners. I got two of these during that period.

Im very happy with my outcomes and would recommend Thinkful/ Bloc to anyone interested in starting a career in Data Science.

In my opinion the pros of attending bloc are the always helpful slack community and the meticulously informative support teams. I may be biased, but, the coursework for career advice and searching is incredibly invaluable.

I would say the downsides, seems I was a one off in this case, is the mentoring. In my case most of my mentors were no shows, not to mention I missed a few along the way as well, though we ended up just forfeiting mentor meetings near the end either way.

I heard about Bloc thru a friend. She was also studying in the designer track. I chose to enroll with Bloc because I heard it has a mentor program. Every week I can have a 30-mins online meeting with my mentor. I don't have any background with web design, so having someone to ask for help is very necessary.

Bloc also has couple slack channels where I can chat with other bloc students, see their works and leave feedback. If my mentor is not available, I can ask other mentor questions via slack.

As for the curriculum, it is well designed even if anyone has no experience with it. All the learning materials are easy to understand without tons of reading. Good for someone who doesn't have a lot of time doing reading. However, I would still suggest people read outside sources to boost your knowledge and keep you updated. All the information in each checkpoint is the very basic, important and necessary pieces that can help you to get it started.

The workload is intense. People need to treat it seriously and plan accordingly to make sure you can contribute your time and energy into learning. I fully understand that it is hard to motivate yourself to work hard every day, so make sure you set up a plan for yourself at the very beginning.

The grading team who access your checkpoint work is very responsive and professional. Although sometimes I felt frustrated to revise my work again and again, I learned a lot from them. I really appreciate the opportunity to receive feedback from different perspectives.

Overall, Bloc is a good choice if you want to start a designer job without any experience. Even though it cannot guarantee that you can 100% get a job, it gives you enough skills and insights to boost your confidence to explore in this area.

Outcomes

Student Outcomes

* These outcomes are not audited by Course Report. In some cases, data is audited by a third party.

41%Graduation Rate

73%Employed

$65,411Median Salary

Bloc has an acceptance rate of 100%, of which 100% of accepted students enroll in a course. Of the students who enroll at Bloc, 41% graduate. 73% are hired in technical roles within 120 days and report an average income of $65,411.

Matriculation Information

Accepted

161

Enrolled

161

Graduated

66

Job Seeking

30

Job Seeking Graduates Placed:

53%

30 days

63%

60 days

70%

90 days

73%

120 days

97%

After 120 days

Employment Breakdown:

This chart shows the breakdown of roles for job-seeking graduates.

Notes & Caveats:

Bloc students reflected in this report as Enrolled are students who continued after 4 weeks of starting in the Part-Time Web Developer Track, Software Engineer Track, and Full Stack Track.